Spring trip to Hawaii number two for Uncle Markie, this time with Dwight who has never been before, and we have a TON of stuff planned to give him an overview of the place. But first we have to get there. And since it’s a long flight – off to The Museum of Flight we go for a quick tour of the planes parked outside that we can tour and then an overview of the various wings inside.
In front and under 787-8 number three (third down the production line). Before long we are headed to Bellingham with a couple of stops along the way:
Champagne glasses from a thrift store in Mount Vernon for the shop
It’s sort of embarrassing what our snacks were – Two for 99 cents tacos from Jack in the Box. That made Dwight’s iced tea more expensive than his snack.
And a Hawaii-bound on the road picture:
Yep – that’s me at the wheel of Dwight’s Volvo. Guess who is going to drive home on the return leg so I can sleep?
Alaska Airlines has this new self-tagging system that we are trying for the first time – nothing like 1000 Bonus Frequent Flyer Miles for both of us tor motivation.
You print the tag at home and then slip them into this flexible plastic reusable sleeve.
One of the nice things is that Bellingham’s Airport, while it lacks an airport lounge, it does have a decent place to drink and snack and connect to wifi – that would be Scotty Browns Social House. Their house bourbon is Evan Williams – which is my house bourbon as well.
We had the appetizer of the Salt & Pepper Dry Ribs – just a little nibble before our dinner onboard our flight.
My favorite seat – as usual, this time with company.
There was a slight problem with catering that the just joined the company 30-days ago and on her first First Class posting – they didn’t board any dinner plates – so we ate out of the warming trays.
And our hosts:
A great crew on the flight over! The gentleman even made me a hat just before arrival:
Our luggage arrived with these experimental self-tags on them – and we found our driver. Only one problem that we discovered on the arrival at the Royal Garden by Wyndham in Waikiki – my back pack (with my computer) had fallen off the stack of luggage and was – you guessed it – at the airport, having been discovered by security folks there. I checked us in, send Dwight up to the room, and paid another $50 for roundtrip back to the airport to pick up my bag. Not the best way to start a holiday.
At least I brought some booze for our first night and after a trip to the ABC Store for mixers and to the ice machine for some ice (full-size fridge in the unit – but they clear all the ice between guests) we were set for the evening.
Lots of stuff to do in the morning, and pictures to take of the room and the view.
The third of three Spring Break trips for friends of mine who are students or teachers…this one is with Bliss, who is a teacher, and can afford a plane ticket – so off to Waikiki we go!
Bliss and I are flying out of Bellingham, Washington which is about two hours north of Seattle. Why drive 2 hours when I’m ten minutes from the airport in Seattle? Round-trip for under $300 and $12 a day parking 50 years from the check-in desk, and a decent Manhattan (their bar pour is Evan Williams) at Scotty Browns.
In addition to a couple of Manhattans, we split half-order of Nachos, which was still a ton of food. And now onto the plane…
Luckily, the weather in Waikiki is slated to be 80 degrees and sunny, rather than 40 degrees and drizzly.
Bliss in the window (1A) and me on the aisle (1C). And up in the air we go for our six hour flight filled with food, fun, and laughter…
And Uncle Markie is getting into the spirt – or is that Uncle Markie is getting into the spirits….
Damn I look comfortable.
Landed, grabbed our bags, found our shuttle driver and headed to the condo – tried a new shuttle service this trip (Go808Express). $50 ($55 for us since we arrive after 9PM) for up to four people directly from the airport to your hotel – handy when you get in at 9:30 at night and don’t want to spend an hour+ on the shared shuttle stopping at every hotel in Waikiki. Even with two people, with tip, it’s a wash on the cost.
We are staying at the Wyndham Royal Garden courtesy of The Colonels who swapped some WorldMark points for their Wyndham Points – on my next trip I’m using my WorldMark points and paying the $99 “Club Pass” fee. I’ve stayed here before in a studio (swanky) and this time we are in a one-bedroom Presidential (even more swanky).
I ran across the street for some mixers to go with the bourbon and gin that I packed but before you knew it bedtime was upon us – with us sharing the king-size bed even though we are “little f” friends. Beats flipping over the fold-out couch.
Morning finds up late, and off to the IHOP for breakfast:
A milestone for Bliss – his first Senior Citizen (55 and over) IHOP Breakfast!
Next stop? Catch the free Hilo Hatties shuttle for my usual walk-through grabbing a free juice and looking at the sale rack, then headed a couple of blocks away for Tuesday Senior Citizen 25% off day (also 55 and over) at the Salvation Army. Found a new (to me) Hawaiian shirt and a couple of other oddities – a Suzy Wong dress for Jared, and some Thai Boxing shorts for me:
Not the most flattering photo of either Bliss or myself. Almost forgot to mention the Martini glasses that I picked up as well…
A quick run through the Kmart across the street from the Sally Ann for socks and aspirin, both of which I’m out of at home, and I’ll have room on the way back with the three bottles of wine and two half-bottles of booze are gone. Did I mention that one of the flight attendants gave us a full-size bottle of wine? I think they liked us! Means I’ll be packing one of the whites back home with us.
Shopping done, it’s time for some sun:
Uncle Markie in his natural environment. And before I forget – this is the view looking towards Diamond Head:
And towards the ocean:
We are on the 22nd Floor (out of 25).
After pool time it’s dinner time. I brought (frozen in a thermal bag):
Two pork tenderloins
One pound of bacon
Package of chicken thighs
Two ribeye steaks
Two sticks of butter
That will save us a TON of money on going out to dinner. The first night’s meal is bacon wrapped tenderloins on the grill. There is no stove in the unit for some odd reason, but at least there are two grills.
Life is rough in the islands!
Wednesday is a Wyndham Sales Pitch at 12:30pm for a $125 AMEX Gift Card. This presentation brings my year-to-date AMEX Gift Card total to $425 and a nice hard-bound “wish” book of all their properties. It’s almost like a part-time job. No need for Kevin to tag along as there is no additional card for him – off to the beach for him:
Our breakfast this morning was to turn the leftover pork into Hawaiian Roll Pork Sliders with a little extra butter. DAMN they were good. As for dinner, tonight are curried chicken thighs (with salad and MORE Hawaiian Rolls):
Note the butter plate in the background – I had a little accident where one of the booze bottles tipped over and nailed the plate. Oops.
Thursday is our last day here in lovely Waikiki. It being Spring Break, the only reservation I could get included Thursday night even though our flight is at midnight – but I have to say, it was convenient to be able to hang out in the room for the final day, along with being able to cook our last dinner of ribeyes:
Shuttle came back for us at 8PM so we have time to hang out in the United Club (even though we are flying Alaska) courtesy of Bliss:
But the cocktails and wine at the condo, and another cocktail in the United Club seem to have taken a toll on Bliss:
Luckily he is in a window seat (3F) and is planning on taking an Ambien. Me, I’ll drink a little and sleep a little on the plane and make him drive south.
And that finishes my third Spring Break – home for a couple of weeks, and then…back to Waikiki because I got a $278.20 round-trip.
Yesterday was another “train day” – not on the train but dealing with Amtrak.
As it turn out, the routing that I proposed in my earlier post, while a valid “routing”, isn’t a valid “redemption”. Seems that ALL LEGS of the journey must be within a single zone.
The route in question was Denver to New Orleans (for my birthday ramble this year) via Chicago (California Zephyr) and Washington, DC (Capital Limited connecting to The Crescent):
After a longer than usual chat with a couple of Guest Rewards folks (who, in turn, had to check with their supervisors) the above routing would be a two zone (three nights) ticket. To get from Denver to New Orleans using only one zone, the trip would look like this and only be for two nights using the California Zephyr and The City of New Orleans:
That said, if you really wanted to maximize a two-zone (four nights), this, believe it or not, is a legal routing:
But there are other legal routings that would work:
Bottom line – my September Birthday Ramble will be two nights in Denver, two nights on the train, five nights in New Orleans.
In other train news – realized that it was Double Points time (they do one in the shoulder season of fall as well). That promotion is good until May 16th – AND I have a $75 Coupon I need to use for Amtrak travel before October 11, 2015. The coupon is from the snarky letter I wrote about being forced out of my sleeper and onto a bus between Portland and Eugene on my way to Denver last fall. You can see that blog post here:
The bottom line was I got a $75 Guest Certificate for the hassle of have to pack up my room, get on a bus, and then set the room up again a couple of hours later. Not terribly happy at the time, but feeling better about it now that I just booked a trip using $74.80 of the $75.00 – the station agent (stopped in when I took Solus+ to catch the train yesterday) asked, “Do you mind eating the 20 cents?” It might have been amusing to get a 20 cent certificate, but I said I was happy just eating it. And the seats are in Business Class (free newspapers and a $3.00 off coupon for some food/booze).
The trip? Olympia to Portland (I’m in Olympia the previous night for an Evergreen event), spend a couple of hours at Powell’s Books or eating oysters at Jakes, then back on the train to Olympia to grab the car and go back to Roxy’s for another sleepover. Nothing like a free trip! AND 300 Amtrak Guest Rewards points.
Well, that’s my Amtrak news for today. Next post will be the much delayed Spring Break Three post.
An occasional feature of UMTravels are tips and tricks for maximizing your award potential. Today’s topic: Amtrak and their Guest Rewards Program.
The basics of the program are: Earn 2 points per $1 spent on your Amtrak travel. Unless you travel a lot on Amtrak it’s going to take you a long time to even get a coach ticket (one-way) on the Amtrak Cascades (1,500 points, 2,000 points for a Business Class seat).
But as we all know with any Frequent Traveler program, it’s hotels (Choice, Hilton, Wyndham Brands, La Quinta, Starwood), cars (Budget, Enterprise, Hertz), and a handful of oddball partners.
And then there is the credit card tie-in, which at the moment Amtrak Guest Rewards doesn’t have. The DID have a MasterCard (from Chase) with a 12,000 sign up bonus if you spent $500 in three months – a small sign-up bonus, but a TINY spend compared so some cards I’ve had ($5000 in three months). I did query Guest Rewards about what happened to their credit card and received this response (in under 48 hours which for Amtrak Customer Service is pretty good):
We apologize, however we are no longer accepting applications for the Amtrak Guest Rewards MasterCard credit card from Chase at this time. More information regarding the Amtrak Guest Rewards credit card will be shared in the near future.
We hope this information is of assistance and apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
So, it sounds like there is something coming down the pike – and I will most likely sign up for it assuming the enrollment bonus/spend is decent.
There is one credit card that does offer a way to get Amtrak Guest Rewards points – the Chase Ink card offers a 1-1 transfer with 40,000-60,000 miles sign up bonuses (also 1-1 transfer with United and some hotel chains). When I signed up for this card I got 60,000 Chase Points (after the aforementioned $5,000 spend in three months).
Another way to get big chunks of Amtrak Guest Rewards point – you can purchase them outright for $0.0275 apiece ($275 for 10,000 – the yearly [calendar] maximum), but wait for sales where you get up to a 30$ bonus bringing the cost down to $0.021.
WHY would you want all these points? – well, it you like to travel by train in either Roomettes or Bedrooms, you know how expensive those rooms can be. A NOLA-CHI-LAX-SEA two-zone trip (20,000 point) that I took last summer would have been about $1445 six months out (value = $0.0723 per point), $1748 two months out (value = $0.0874), or $2092 (value = $0.1046) a month out. What I didn’t realize when I booked these first couple of trips is that the rewards are for TWO people (and all their meals). The point values that I’ve used are for ONE PERSON. Add several hundred dollars for the second persons rail ticket (sleeper is the same no matter how many people), so the saving are even bigger if you want to travel with someone else. A good example would be that NOLA-CHI-LAX-SEA Two-Zone trip which for two people six months out would be around $1700. Another nice thing about Amtrak is that they have VERY liberal change/cancel policies — as long as its 48 hours before the trip, you can change the days or just get a refund.
Having done trips with two people in a Roomette….it’s tight. A Bedroom unit is a better choice, but be prepared to have the majority of your luggage on the luggage racks by the boarding door.
As an added bonus, sleeping car passengers are allowed by bring their own alcohol (the porter will provide you with a bucket of ice – just remember to tip at the end of the trip, though my buddy Dwight always tips at the beginning for guaranteed service) and on many routes they will open wine you brought in the dining car as well – though that varies.
This is the rewards table for sleepers (I should ask if they have a Family Room redemption code):
Amtrak Guest Rewards
Sleeper Rewards
Zones
Roomette
Bedroom
1 Zone
15,000
25,000
2 Zone
20,000
40,000
3 Zone
35,000
60,000
The sweet spots that I see on the reward chart are the 1-Zone Bedroom at 25,000 and the 2-Zone Roomette at 20,000, especially if you are trying to maximize the distance/days of your trip.
To give you an idea of the sort of routings you can get within or between zones, here is the Amtrak Zone Chart:
Redemption Travel by Zone
A travel itinerary for a single redemption must follow a published route between the initial origin and final destination. A published route is an itinerary automatically generated by Amtrak’s reservation system.
A single zone entry or zone exit comprises usage of one zone in the redemption, irrespective of prior or future travel in that zone as part of the same itinerary.
Where a desired itinerary does not exist as a single published route, the trip must be constructed as a series of published routes using multiple redemptions.
Circle trips are not permitted using a single redemption. A circle trip is a travel itinerary comprised of a series of segments that exit, and later re-enter, the same zone.
An Amtrak station located on a zone boundary may be considered part of either bordering zone, if it is the initial origin or final destination for the redemption.
Where a published route requires a connection between two segments, a later connecting service may be chosen as long as it departs on the same date as the connection originally offered.
Where a published route contains a valid connection of 23 hours, 30 minutes or less, an overnight stay in the connecting city is permitted at the passenger’s own expense. (Example: one-way travel from New York to El Paso, where the published route requires an overnight connection in New Orleans, would be permitted on the same redemption.)
Where sleeping car service is not offered for the entire published route, and where an alternate direct routing exists with sleeping car service on all segments, the alternate routing is allowed. (Example: Denver, CO to Los Angeles, CA on Trains 5 and 11)
And there are a few Blackout dates around Christmas, Thanksgiving and other longs weekends, but it’s not that bad.
One-Zone routes in a Roomette that would work are (with a June departure):
ABQ-SEA via LAX (3 hour layover with lounge access) Retail $1100 [.073 value]
Includes: Dinner, Early Breakfast (to LAX) , Lunch, Dinner, Breakfast, Lunch, Early Dinner (to SEA)
ATL-DEN via WAS (6 hour layover with lounge access) and CHI (5 hour layover with lounge access) Retail $1300 (for two) [.087 value]
Includes: Breakfast (to WAS), Dinner, Breakfast (to CHI), Dinner, Breakfast (to DEN)
NOLA-DEN via CHI (5 hour layover with lounge access), Retail $1100 [.073 value]
And interesting concept is that two people buy the maximum amount of miles (2 @ $275) and then split the cost of transferring one set of miles to the other (1 @ $130 for a total of 26,000 miles, which is enough for either a 1-zone Bedroom, or a 2-Zone Roomette for $680 (for the two people) which is MUCH cheaper than retail. Of course, you can only do this once a year (up to 10,000 miles plus whatever bonus they offer), which is calendar year.
If you were to think a 2-Zone reward (20,000 points in a Roomette, 40,000 points in a Bedroom), you could do the 5-day long trip I did last year…
Rack rate (retail) is $2377 in the Roomette or $3543 in a bedroom. You could do NOLA-CHI-SEA (Empire Builder), but I was trying to maximize train time for the same number of points. I did it in a Roomette and got a value of .11885 from points I purchased for .021 — now THAT is a return on investment assuming you want to spend five days on the train having someone feed you and make your bed.
Or another would be Fort Lauderdale to Denver (I’m only thinking of Alaska Airlines cities), that comes in between $1100 and $1600 depending on whether you transit via NYC or DC.
All the retail numbers are for trips in late June, assuming there are rooms, the closer you are to travel dates means an even bigger savings.
Every time I look at the map I come up with new ones, like Fort Lauderdale to Albuquerque (Two-Zone) – that would be fun…
Well, that’s it for my tips and tricks on Amtrak Guest Rewards earning and redeeming. Stay tuned for an update once they bring out a new credit card offer.
All this pondering has me considering my Birthday Ramble this year…maybe DEN-CHI on the California Zephyr, then the Cardinal to Charlottesville, WV, then the Crescent to New Orleans—four days on the train, in a Roomette. Retail for two: $2706 (or $0.1082 per credit). That would be a two-zone ticket. Then stay a couple of nights at the WorldMark New Orleans. Now to convince Lisa to let me borrow Dan for a week.
Over the last couple of posts I’ve mentioned reading scholarships while we are holidaying, or in the Penthouse at the Camlin after I got off from the wine shop. Here is the low down on what we are reading and for who.
Offered to a new or currently enrolled student attending full time who demonstrates an interest in information dissemination, e.g., writer, Web designer, teacher, musician, activist—anyone helping to influence the way people think about their world, to change the concepts of “nons”—non-residents, non-Caucasians, non-heterosexuals—to create a more equal, intelligent and compassionate society. Preference will be given to non-resident gay or lesbian students, demonstrating quality and creativity of prior work in the area of information dissemination. Financial need will also be considered.
Requirements   Â
Letter of application addressing your passion for and level of expertise in the dissemination of information. Tell us where you have been with this concept, what you are doing now, and where you want to go in exploring how information is shared.
A portfolio of work that expresses your beliefs about information dissemination and demonstrates how you have put those beliefs into action.
Two letters of recommendation from individuals, other than relatives, who have personally experienced the power of your work in information dissemination.
We had a total of 8 readers for 10 applications, which is down from previous years:
2015 = 10
2014 = 14
2013 = 6
2012 = 17
2011 = 15
2010 = 21
2009 = 19
Still working on why the numbers are down – after all, it’s free money. What student doesn’t want free money?
The amazing/amusing thing about reading scholarships is that we all read every one of the scholarships, and rank them on this scale:
Financial Need:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 1Â Â Â Â 2Â Â Â Â 3Â Â Â Â 4Â Â Â Â 5
Quality of Introduction Letter: Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 1Â Â Â Â 2Â Â Â Â 3Â Â Â Â 4Â Â Â Â 5
Quality of Recommendation Letters: Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 1Â Â Â Â 2Â Â Â Â 3Â Â Â Â 4Â Â Â Â 5
Quality of Portfolio:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 1Â Â Â Â 2Â Â Â Â 3Â Â Â Â 4Â Â Â Â 5
Award one point for each of the following:
Non-Resident
Non-Caucasian
Non-Heterosexual
Point Total for “Nons”: Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â _______
TOTAL POINTS FOR THIS APPLICANT: Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â _____________
The amazing/amusing part is that no matter how a person grades (harsh/lenient), the numbers track on a graph pretty closely, though people have been known to give a random point just because they really liked the applicant. Anytime there is an outlier, we generally go back and reread the application:
Here are a couple of great (well, so-so) photos of us reading applications:
Yes, even though there is good food and booze – we really do work.
A little background on the scholarship – years ago I used to be on the Board of Governors for the Evergreen Foundation, the money-raising wing of The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. When I joined the Board I gave everyone a copy of a Wall Street Journal article about non-profit board of directors, which could be condensed to “Get, Give, or Get Off.” After the tech-crash of the early 2000’s, I could no longer GET (all my sources in the same boat), GIVE (same boat as all my sources of donations), so it was time to GET OFF the board.
While I was on the board (before the tech-crash), the State of Washington was offering matching grants to beef up College Endowments – offering two guaranteed scholarships to the University of Washington (like their endowment needs more money) and one each to all the other state colleges, with several extra scholarship matches to assign to colleges who quickly matched their original allotment. The cynic in me thinks it so they could slash funding in the future. But matching money is matching money and I helped cobble together the Microsoft Alumni Scholarship from Evergreeners who ended up at Microsoft. The deal with the state was – raise $25,000 and the State will match $25,000. In the case of working with employees with matching benefits, the equation is different – you only need $12,500 in donations, Microsoft (in this case) matches $12.500, then the State matches the $25,000 for a total of a $50,000 endowed scholarship that runs in perpetuity (like forever, man). They kick off 5% a year to a student depending on fund performance (2008-2010 was ugly) which would be $2500. Currently that number is $2938. The Microsoft Alumni Scholarship kicks off two scholarships each year of $2008.
It is WAY easier to get people to donate if their $1 turns into $4 – this is a lesson that my dearly departed father taught me years ago. When I graduated from Evergreen and the calls and mail started coming to donate to the Foundation, he said to me, “I donate to the college I went to, and if you want to, I’ll match whatever you give, and then submit it under my name to my employer and they will match what both of us put in – and in good years they will do a two times match.” Those early days it was $25, $50, $100 – but when that turns into $100, $200, $400, or in good years, $150, $300, $600. It make philanthropy very easy.
Having quickly funded the Microsoft Alumni Scholarship the State announced that The Evergreen State College had received one the two “floating” matches. When the topic can up at a Board meeting I raised my hand and said, “I can fund that.” Ah, being flush with a Microsoft Paycheck (actually, the paycheck during that time sucked, but with the stock options, who cared). Microsoft matched $12,000 a year when I was there, now it is $15,000. Details here for you MSFT folk. Knowing I was leaving Microsoft after almost ten years, I spent the last couple of years maxing out my charitable contributions – and my scholarship was the final hurrah.
The Board nixed my original scholarship title: “The Mark Stephen Souder Scholarship for Academic Mediocrity” which would have reflected my academic performance while at college. The next thought was about a print publishing scholarship – and then you start thinking about what “print” will be like after you are dead – “The Mark Stephen Souder Scholarship For Letterpress Printing”. Being a letterpress guy I’m not opposed to that… but I would like to actually have applicants, hence the “Information Dissemination” moniker.
It is a great honor to read scholarship applications each year – and invite friends, loved ones, current students, drop-outs, Master’s students to read – we’ve had them all over the years.
Spring Break trip number two – another student: Jonathan. Student Spring Break trips are on the cheap: driving. Teacher Spring Break trips, frugal, but flying.
The route:
Lots of miles on the Miata this Spring…speaking of which, when you travel in a small car, forget hard-side luggage, think lots of small, squishable bags:
And my stuff and ½ of Jonathan’s stuff in the trunk…not much room left:
But the reason that you own a convertible is for a little Miata on Miata action…..I really don’t know why they didn’t have their top down:
What I’d booked in Birch Bay was the WorldMark Blaine. I’ve stayed next door at the WorldMark Birch Bay in the 3-bedroom Penthouse units with the private hot tub that are out of a student’s network are lovely, but they just added the place next door (no private hot tub, no private BBQ). I’d booked the “2-bedroom Standard” and was somehow rewarded with a Penthouse Unit (again, no private hot tub, but the BBQs were just down the deck).
Top floor – out unit was on the end, at the other end was the communal lounge:
And then there is the view….
Before long, I was settled in on the deck in the sun, cocktail in hand…
It’s not a bad little place….
It was a two-bedroom 2-bath unit. Not quite up to WorldMark standards (no BBQ tongs, no non-stick fry pan), but the furniture was comfy.
Steaks for dinner the first night, then for me, it was off to WorldMark Owner ReEduction for a $100 AMEX gift card for an hour and a half of them trying to sell me more points. No more point purchases until I sell the next house, or Mom dies – and I don’t think either of those are coming soon.
The LITTLE “event” for today is Jonathan trimming my locks – thoughts? It’s short!
The BIG “event” for today is the Scholarship Reading….
The following morning we were up and out by noon (thanks for the GREAT breakfast strata DancingBear!). The only downside was that my laptop pack got put in the wrong car – no laptop on my next stop Vancouver.
But before I move on, a couple of other pictures:
It’s just me headed to Vancouver. Jonathan didn’t get his Enhanced Washington State ID figured out in town.
Easy border transit even with having to cross several lanes of stopped traffic to get from Duty Free and back into the Nexus lane…hopefully this will be fixed once they open the new lanes.
Destination is the WorldMark at The Canadian in Vancouver. One of my favorites. And when I got there after shopping for dinner, the unit wasn’t ready, but Hummingbird had already been by just getting off “work”. That would assume that being a priest is “work”.
But we did get a unit early – they switched us to get us in earlier…not a bad room:
It was salmon on the menu tonight (with bread, salad, wine). Much fun. Guests were: Solus, Hummingbird, and his friend Kevin who was standing in for BamBam who couldn’t make it.
Slept in, and then couldn’t find the Cathedral where Hummingbird was doing the Maundy Service (the Thursday before Easter) so I went back to the condo and went back to bed. Another dinner tonight.
Second dinner of the visit was steak, brazed green onions, salad, bread – and of course — starting it off, the Pu Pu Platter.
No pictures—don’t know what I was thinking. Guests Helene, Tom, Stephen – and much good conversation (and knitting on Helene’s visit).
Out of the condo a little before noon – and the signs were saying 70 minute delay for the truck crossing – even the Nexus line was backed up past Duty Free – but I took a shortcut via the truck entrance to get to Duty Free which as a Nexus pass holder you get to park right out front AND get 10% off your purchases. Talk about cheap whiskey!
Between the 10% discount and the 20% exchange difference… that’s some mighty cheap whiskey, and a 1.14 liter bottle at that!
But back in the line (they shunt you into the existing line if you show your receipt) there were only a dozen or so cars in front of me:
And before you knew it I was home (after picking up my laptop bag that got put in the wrong car yesterday).
When you have lots of friends who are students or teachers you try (well, I do) to do sometime good for them during their spring break. In my case, I’m going on THREE spring break getaways this spring.
The “theory” was picking up Roxy at noon on Monday. The reality was more like 1:30. Off a three day work run after a 10-day trip to Asia, sleep was my friend. And late morning packing.
Here is the route:
Just a little driving over the next couple of days! Stop number one, the WorldMark Surfside:
Obviously the photo was taken in the summer, but here is the inside:
A little heavy on the converted motel redone a bit upscale, but it isn’t really about the view from our first floor deck (with BBQ) – even in Spring:
But it’s comfortable…
And we can cook a good meal….
And invite company to dinner, complete with crostini appetizers….
And the inevitable…
Next up, our place in Forks, Washington (of Twilight fame):
Full kitchen, but tonight we are being hosted by our hosts, Chip (pictured in front of the new lodge):
And Linda (over appetizers):
Linda was the one that helped me craft my Wolf-Mink Hoodie and my Zebra Lederhosen (see links for pictures). And one of the features of the new lodge is a wood-fired oven. I don’t think I’d ever had fresh pita:
Before you knew it, we were on the road home – 4 hours from Forks to Oly, another hour home. Not helped by having a bit of a head cold, which wasn’t helped by me putting the top down on the last get:
Trip One down, Trip Two next week…God Save This Queen.
As the trip comes to an end, there are just a couple of final flights.
Nagoya (NGO) to Tokyo Narita (NRT)
Tokyo Narita (NRT) to Seattle (SEA)
But first I have to get to the airport – and it’s basically a two-hour train ride, but only one transfer…..and by taking the semi-express, I save 340yen ($3 – should have taken the express!).
Not my train – going in the wrong direction:
5
My train, going away from my destination but hooking up with the main line to the airport:
A little nerve racking with the maps on this train all in Kanji – but then I remembered back to my Kanji Character Matching from my first trips to Nippon 30 years ago.
Got to the airport with plenty of time (as I always do), got through security with only a double scanning, then found the lounge to settle in and write the previous blog report, and have a cocktail or three. Sparse but comfortable service. Only one bottle of hard liquor open (luckily whiskey), but draft beer and packaged cocktail mix. No English language papers alas…. I’ll have to wait for Tokyo:
And my office in the lounge:
It was an hour flight to Narita (Tokyo) on a full flight, at least they were mostly tiny Japanese people since I was in the back (no First or Business on this Airbus A320):
But soon I was doing the maze of Narita airport, having to clear Immigration – thank goodness for the Gold/Business lanes – all I saw in the other lanes were panicked people. Personally I barely had a chance to do my duty-free shopping – to spend my last 7,000+ yen (guess I didn’t need to change that final $50 bill. Did find some “odd” things in duty-free to buy. Whiskey with emperor’s armor:
And some off menthol (though I didn’t know that until later) cigarettes that come 8 or so to a square box in different colors – perfect for Jerod. Then it was off to the Lounge – which the pictures of didn’t come out because I was in a hurry, but there was food, booze, and English language newspapers – that’s all I need.
Inserted just for amusement – this is what happens when you don’t check your images….
Did some final shopping to whittle down the change (750+ yen) – bought an overpriced sticker for my suitcase and some sushi shaped erasers for Jonathan (since he has drafting classes).
And then it was time to get settled in for my Business Class flight home on an ANA 878-800. Welcome to my “throne”:
It DOES feel like a throne. And the service:
I found the lay-flat beds in the ANA plane more comfortable than the Emirates, with the Emirates bed feeling like a sofa-sleeper with the ribs in unfortunate places. And soon it was time for breakfast:
Landed a little before 11 – and by a little after 11:30 I was through immigration, grabbed my bag, through customs, and home bringing in the mail. A five-hour nap before going to the shop to work 3 hours for a private event. And working Friday, Saturday, Sunday. No time for jetlag.
[222.4] Nothing like a couple of days do drop the flight water weight.
Julian works until 8 tonight (usually 9) so that was the reason for the late train to Nagoya – and it takes him 35-45 minutes to get from school (he teaches English) into Nagoya. Nagoya Station is crazy busy, even at 8:30 at night:
Bright lights in the big city…
But Julian is there at the appointed time (8:50) and at the appointed place (under the Gold clock at one end of the station, not the Silver clock [with gold trim] at the other end):
Yep – he wears a tie to work, even with the preschoolers. He teaches MANY different age and abilities. Off to dinner we go…
where you can order from their massive menu at a screen at each table.
I must have been hungry because there are no food shots, nor the beer and sake…
One the way back to his apartment – which is in Komaki, an in-the-sticks suburb according to Julian because it takes two transfers to get anywhere – I saw this nice bank of vending machines. Even in residential areas you will find them basically on every corner:
Guess I should get a day shot of this!
Welcome to Julian’s Dorm Room – technically a studio apartment, but it being furnished, it has the feel of a dorm room….
Past the door is the kitchen, toilet, shower, washing machine. Even the outside of the building looks industrial:
Stayed up too late catching up, (as we did in Portland as well,) luckily we don’t have an early day tomorrow.
Breakfast this morning:
Miso soup with a side of coffee.
The main reason for the timing of this visit is to see the HÅnen Matsuri – the fertility festival held each March 15th in Komaki. You can read the whole Wikipedia at the link to the left, or here is the “bite-size” bit:
HÅnen Matsuri (豊年ç¥?, “Harvest Festival”) is a fertility festival celebrated every year on March 15 in Japan. HÅnen means prosperous year in Japanese, implying a rich harvest, while a matsuri is a festival. The HÅnen festival and ceremony celebrate the blessings of a bountiful harvest and all manner of prosperity and fertility.
Luckily we aren’t headed there for the entire ceremony, just the final procession.
As you can tell by the English on the sign – LOTS of Westerners (gaijin) attend.
Yep – there was a parking lot full of us:
What parking lot, you might ask?
That’s when I realized this was going to be a long day. Yep, a looonnnggggg day of drinking, luckily with no driving:
So I joined the fun and picked up this fun little number….
Until I did a little research on this bourbon (Heaven Hill), I didn’t realize that it’s from the producers of my favorite bourbon, Evan Williams.
But enough about drinking in the middle of the afternoon, let’s get onto the phallus shots. Yes, even the candy they are selling is phallus shaped:
That would be Jacob – a good-old-boy from the south end of Alabama (and English teacher). Nice veins on that candy…
Yep, that’s a big one! But it doesn’t stop there, the grounds of the temple are “littered” with penis:
When you make an offering to this:
you ring this:
Gives new meaning to the phrase: Ding Dong.
EVERYBODY turns up at this festival, not just the foreigners… from guitar-toting cowboys…
to she-males….
Yes, even the bananas are suggestive…
And yes, I had one. And bought lots of cock souvenirs.
Before we move on, I have to share one video of the ceremonies:
To show how far we slid by the end of the afternoon (and because I think Jacob is cute):
Needless to say – we needed food after all this (other than bananas and penis pops)…so off we went to a place close to Julians.
We were a decent sized party of over eight….and ate we did…
and the disaster we left…
Another long night, because we were out of booze at home, so we swung by the local mega-store for some mega-booze. At this point my feet were KILLING me, and Julian and his girlfriend were kind enough to wheel me around the store….
Just for reference, that is a shelf of 4 Liter booze bottles. To compare sizes, we have this illustrative photograph:
1.5 liter Coke Zero, 700ml Suntory Whiskey, 4 liter Suntory Black. The four liter bottle was $24, which my EuroFaerie friend Karl pointed out is only .15 per unit of alcohol. That should keep me through my visit, with plenty of leftovers for Julian. Of course, that might be the ONLY thing in Japan that is cheap.
Another long evening…but this time we have to be up and out by 9am because we have a 10:30am reservation at the Asahi Brewery. Feeling the effects of last night we take the wrong train, leading to a 20-minute walk to catch our connection…and then catch the express rather than the local and have to turn around and catch a local back, and realize that the “10-minute walk” from the station is more like 20+ minutes….and surprisingly we were only 15-minutes late for our Japanese Language tour of the plant. We arrived at the same time as a bus filled with seniors – but to our amazement, an English-speaking tour guide came to our rescue!
Here is an aerial view of the complex:
and our tour guide:
and us enjoying some pre-noon free samples.
We were both hobbling on the tour, Julian from his recovering broken leg, me from some swelling at the ball of my left foot – she enquired if we’d like a cab back to the station in Japanese. Had she said it in English I would have said “hell, yes”, but alas – we walked back the 20 minutes.
Then I broke my own rule (for the second time this trip) – no more than one tourist attraction or event in one day.
Off we went to the SCMaglev and Railway Park to continue on the transportation theme of this trip. We were beat by the time we got there – at the end of a train line through the industrial heartland of Nagoya.
It was a cool museum, though Julian spent a good hour sleeping in one of the train cars. Sorry, no picture. HUGE museum with lots of displays:
What I found interesting was the interiors of the previous generation of Shinkansen trains…
And yes, they did have a huge diorama/model train set-up as well…
Caught the train back into the city and killed a little time before meeting up with the girlfriend and other friends for dinner – this time, a cook-it-yourself kind of place:
By the time we got home, we were totally beat – and Julian has to work tomorrow, though luckily not until noon.
As for me – I spent the day hobbling into the city center of Komaki to do a little exploring, a little shopping and indulged my “once-per-international-trip” US fast food stop:
In the same department store of Ronny Macs, there was this “odd” display of which I am clueless, but it did warrant a picture:
Like some bad 50’s dream…but I did come back with the fixings for dinner:
That would be stir-fried pork and chicken bits with a couple of kinds of pickled vegetables with a bowl of rice (that yes, Mr. Low Carb ate).
Here are some of my random “wandering around town” shots…
My favorite part of the above picture is the crow drinking water out of one of the flower vases…
The final meal of the Komaki leg was with another of the English teachers at Julian’s school, and one of their older students. We went out for more conveyor belt sushi – this time with little trains to deliver your special orders:
Grab from the line, or special order on the touchscreen:
And it comes on a different little train that stops only at your table:
This is the stack of plates for the four of us…
And when you are done, you slid them into the slot in the table where they are automatically counted and added to your bill:
Other than pouring down rain (a BIG thanks to Julian’s student who gave us a ride home) it was a perfect cap to an evening – and we even put a pretty big dent in that 4 liter bottle of whiskey…
Out of the house a little before 10 to catch the train to the airport for my 2:45pm departure for Narita, connecting to my flight to Seattle.
On the train, I finally found the transit map that I’d been looking for since I got here:
This map has all the various different company lines in both Kanji and English.
Only one transfer, but I’m on the slow train so basically it’s almost 2 hours, but I saved 340 yen by not taking the express and going the long way with fewer connections.
Oh the joys of family. My planned two-night stay in Tokyo has been turned into a one-night stay in Tokyo and a one-night stay in Yokohama, where I am the .005% — which has turned out to be…I’m at a loss for words, but not at all negative.
One of the things that I love about JapanLand is the attention to detail….TokyoDave got his shirts back from the laundry – tied with a ribbon:
Nice touch.
I spent my morning in Tokyo, not sightseeing, but working on the last blog post, eating toast and yogurt and Japanese-brand Laughing Cow, before Mitsio (TokyoDave’s wife) returned home and made coffee. I’m at a loss in their kitchen.
By noon or so I’m at the station to catch the train to Yokohama – in theory meeting up with TokyoDave on the train. They gave me one of their “ORCA” cards (actually that’s a Seattle thing, but same principle), though it was drained so I had to go through “the dance” and then top it off before the end of the trip. Apparently the same card works all over Japan, which should be handy – just need to mail it back since I think it’s like Seattle’s with a $10 charge to buy one.
Small misconnection with TokyoDave, but with the joys of email, we have a backup plan, and I have a “chair”, I mean suitcase, that works as a seat, and before you know it we are here:
And then we are checked in, after a bit of a walk – not my fault!
Tight quarters, but not my dime, nor Circus, nor Monkeys.
First up – LUNCH!
Nothing says Tokyo like plates of food on a conveyor belt – though we ordered the lunch special. We just needed a snack to tide us over until an early dinner (5:30):
The joys of mechanization, Tokyo Style.
And then there are the vending machines… not the porno ones in the “entertainment district”, but more mundane:
I love the “Japanese” Juan Valdez hocking coffee….
Next up was the Shinyokohama Raumen Museum…sort of an “odd” concept – you pay 310 yen to get in, and the place is set up to look like a 1958 townscape with stalls selling various styles of ramen…like I said, “odd” Covers two floors…
The only reservation TokyoDave could get for Teppanyaki was at 5:30 – which is a little early for dinner (for me…), but the show was fun:
Nice meal all around – though not cheap. Think 35000yen (now divide by 120). Luckily (for me) it was a business expense for TokyoDave since I’m his registered agent.
That was pretty much the end of the evening for the two of us.
In the morning it’s the breakfast buffet that is seriously crowded….but it’s included in the room, so we are up and out early since TokyoDave is manning the desk at his daughter Maya’s International Baccalaureate Art Show (the same sort of show that I went to for my niece Karen a couple of weeks ago. Here is a quick picture of Maya’s exhibit.
Maya’s would the second one in from the left. It seemed a little higher quality that the New Mexico show, but not hugely so.
Lots of interesting work in Maya’s – even got to meet TokyoDave’s in-laws, who were in town for the show as well, hence, why I was decamped to Yokohama so they could have the guest bedroom.
I have the day to kill before catching the Bullet Train to Nagoya to meet up with my nephew, Julian. First up is the Silk Museum, which was right next to the IB exhibition.
Not a huge place, but lots of traditional clothing throughout Japan’s history. Then it’s off to the Nissan Gallery at their World Headquarters – yes, I know, I’m breaking my rule of only one tourist attractions per day, but these were pretty cars to look at, and nice butts in rubber pants:
Then down the block a little more and it was to the Haro Model Railway Museum – apparently this guy has been collecting and building model trains for his entire life.
Then it was back to the district where my hotel was to grab my luggage – but not before trying to squeeze in one last museum, the CupNoodles Museum (yes, that’s how it’s spelled).
But alas, there were tons of people in line to just get tickets. Guess I’ll save that for the next trip. Time to grab a bite, pick up the luggage and head to the station (which luckily is right across the street from the hotel). And this would be my office inside the JRStation waiting for my train…time to work on the blog (but not finished it – which is too bad because there is free wi-fi and I’m stocked with Whiskey and Diet.
I didn’t really get to see much of anything in Dubai, but that would have required a layover, which wasn’t permitted under the tickets rules – or if it was, it would have screwed up my car service on both ends.
Got to Dubai in the dark last night, leaving before the sun is up – at least this morning I’ve got time/inclination to take a shot of the hotel:
Grabbed the transfer bus, avoided check-in since I’m doing carry-on, so it’s straight to the Emirates Business Class Lounge. Looks large from the outside…
But when you get inside, you need a map!
The Business Class lounge runs THE ENTIRE LENGTH of a 25-gate terminal, as does the First Class lounge, one floor down.
And there are dedicated check in desks inside the lounge for EACH gate, with four elevators (per gate) that take you directly to the jet bridge for boarding.
But I haven’t even talked about the food service – hello breakfast!
Big buffet with everything from British to Middle Eastern – I’d love to see what the dinner spread is like – maybe I should have stayed in the airport overnight rather than dropping $140 (and the cost of dinner).
Time to head to the plane…
There is even a second level jetway (a separate stop on the elevator from the Lounge) for the Airbus A-380 double decker planes that Emirates has about 50 of.
Soon, I’m back in my seat…feeling a little narrow this time, but it’s exactly the same seat (just on the other side of the plane).
And we are in the air with a TOTALLY crowded Business Class section – seems we have a delegation (business/political?) from Tanzania. Alas – Bing Search didn’t come up with anything, yet.
Every seat is full. Expecting service to be a little less attentive than on the first leg, but breakfast is served:
Not feeling 100% this morning – maybe too much fun yesterday?
At least it isn’t coach. No lunch picture, slept a good four hours (out of the nine). No movies, just Brooklyn 99 which is a cop/comedy with one of the Saturday Night boys, featuring a gay Precinct Captain – think Barney Miller updated that is a “Box Set” which means that you get the entire season that plays ene-to-end, unfortunately with the same annoying commercials between episodes.
I was a little worried about arriving in Tokyo – as I’m carrying things I probably shouldn’t:
Couple of pounds of low carb flour
Couple of pounds of some hulled grain
Business Documents
Last known copy of an erotic photo from 30-years-ago of a mutual friend (that Swanda had in his bathroom for years, and I had in mine for years before)
All that was for TokyoDave, as well a couple of pairs of underwear he left behind on his last trip through.
But no problems – just got stuck behind someone with paperwork problems which delayed my arrival into the arrivals hall which was my other worry…what about this famed “car service”… but there he was, with his clipboard in hand, waiting for me.
That would be Mitsuru – my driver for the evening:
And off we go into the city!
To TokyoDave’s place, with a warm futon (after a couple of glasses of Bourbon).
I am blessed to have spare bedrooms in two different places in Tokyo with exPat friends of mine (alas, the other is in Portland at the moment dealing with his aging mother).
Sometimes I wonder if I like the journey more than the destination…Looking forward to both on this trip, but it’s a close tie. Today is the first leg of a 10 day trip – a rarity for me. Here is the trip:
Leg Number One: Seattle to Dubai, Business Class – redeemed 75,000 Alaska miles for the one-way, Seattle-Dubai-Haneda (the close in airport for Tokyo). The cool thing with flying Emirates is the free town car service on both ends. I was a little worried about how this would work since there was no “contact” number, just a receipt saying it was booked. I booked earlier than I usually do, just in case the driver didn’t show up.
He did show up – like half an hour early. This would be my driver, Justin:
Plenty of room in the Town Car…and even bottled water – and yes, I tipped him since I made him wait 15 minutes while I finished checking email. He was, after all, 30 minutes early.
Since Emirates wouldn’t let me check-in on-line, I had to wait for 15 minutes for the ticket counter to open…but soon I was off to the lounge in the South Satellite, with one detour back to security to pick up my rollaboard – I’m so used to checking luggage that I was almost on the shuttle train when I remembered that I was missing something BIG.
I’d never been in this lounge before – it serves Emirates, Lufthansa and a couple of other airlines that only have one flight a day.
This is the first lounge that I’ve been in that actually has a drink menu, and someone to mix those drinks!
Snacks/food was on par or a little better than Alaska’s Board Room – maybe next time I’m at the Board Room I’ll ask if they can make a Manhattan which is what I had three off will waiting for my plane to board.
But soon enough it was plane time:
That would be a 777-300ER (tomorrows plane is a 777-200ER). But there was a HUGE number of wheelchairs (at least 13 by my count) and strollers (about twice that amount), that boarding for Business and First was delayed. Luckily I have a hard-side case which makes a nice rolling seat:
With a 14 hour flight, what’s a little waiting, especially when I’m sitting here on the plane:
That little screen on the left is the detachable handheld controller for the 17″ inch diagonal LCD that pops out of the console for the bulkhead aisle seats on the outside. Here is what the inner three look like:
Oddly enough, those seats remained open – too bad you can’t combine two into a really big seat with dual screens – even First doesn’t have that:
I like the fact that they have their own refrigerated mini-bar. Maybe next time (that would be an additional 25,000 miles one-way). Nice amenity kit even in Business Class, complete with Bvlgari products:
It will be interesting to see if I get the same kit on the flight from Dubai to Haneda – and to compare it to the ANA kit for the flight home.
And on the Emirates cocktail list…Manhattans (sweet, dry, perfect) – complete with shaker!
I was TOTALLY impressed – you don’t find THAT on domestic carriers, even on their overseas routes. No Martini glasses, but that just a First World (Class) problem in a Business Class world.
Speaking of Business Class problems, no vintage dated Champagne back here…just Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label (up front it’s the 2004 Dom Perignon). And soon, it was time for the first course for dinner:
That would be the smoked salmon served with pumpernickel croutons and marinated read and yellow baby beetroots and a seasonal salad. The two glasses of wine are:
2013 Domaine du Nozay Sancerre 2013 (the winner of the tasting)
2013 Larry Cherubino Pedestal Chardonnay (too buttery for my taste – didn’t even finish it)
For the main, I went with the Marinated Beef Tenderloin served with a peppercorn sauce, Mediterranean-style grilled vegetables and creamy mashed potatoes:
They could has done a better job on the presentation of the mashed potatoes – you can still see the warming tray marks. For the red with this course:
2008 Les Tourelles de Longueville (again, the French is the winner – damn that Jimmy and his stocking lots of old-world wines)
2012 Hahn SLH Pinot Noir (good, but Pinot from California is always a crap shoot)
My flight attendant brought me two of the reds from First Class since I told her I ran a wine shop and that was why I was trying everything open). She showed up with these two:
1995 Chateau Palmer (Margaux region) – dear lord, THAT’S the winner of the bunch
2011 Au Sommet Atlas Peak (your basic decent California Cabernet)
Then there was the cheese course with the 1985 Porto Dalva Colhheita (they were serving a 2002 Chateau Guirand Sauternes and/or a Sandeman 40-Year-Old Tawny Port):
Complete with Godiva Chocolates – and you can see a bit of the big-ass touchscreen TV in the background (more on the 500+ movies in 39 languages later).
But what meal is complete without an espresso and a Cointreau to finish it off!
Who knew that airplanes had espresso machines!
There were a couple of other amusing things in the galley other than the espresso machine….
And just because they had the fixings – I taught the flight attendant a new drink (for her), the Rusty Nail:
50% 15-year-old Glen Fiddich
50% Drambuie
But speaking of movies, which I mentioned earlier, here is the list of what I watched before I fell asleep (or passed out):
And then there was sleep, and then there was breakfast (which is odd since we are landing in Dubai at 7PM):
Totally British breakfast with the beans and roasted tomato….I paired that with a little more of the champagne, three newspapers left over from boarding and BBCWorldNews on the box, and then it was back to sleep until we landed.
Customs was a bit of a clusterfuck, just from lack of signage in the EasyPass lanes, which weren’t working – but this way I actually got a stamp in my passport – and then it was on to try and figure out how to get to my hotel (Premier Airport Hotel – recommended by one of my wine shop customers) – I printed the pre-paid confirmation, what I didn’t print was how/where the shuttle was – luckily the nice folks at the Emirates Hotel Desk (if I’d had a shorter layover they would have given me a room, as well as the car service).
Got to the hotel, dumped the luggage, toured the rooftop pool, gym area, took in the view….
Returned to the room, ordered room service and packed it in for the night….
And yet another photo for my “ice bucket” collection – what qualifies as an ice bucket in hotel around the world…and that would be a seriously HUGE (think half pound or more) cheeseburger – and I only had a couple of the fries. DAMN FINE burger, GREAT BUN. And the ice was for the minis of whiskey that I packed in my toiletries bag especially for tonight – which brought smiles to ALL the TSA workers in the line – comments like “THAT’S what to fill a quart ziplock with!”.
Tomorrow I get up and do it all again – wakeup call is set for 5:15AM, with take-off at 8:30, which will give me some time to get breakfast in the Emirates Business Class Lounge, which looks good from the pictures I’ve seen.
At 88 (or is it 89) it’s time to be visiting Mom on a more frequent basis. And when I can get it at a good price ($237.20 and upgraded in both directions), why not. I’m also going out again in July when The Colonels will also be out for the International Market.
It’s a beautiful day to fly….not a cloud in the sky:
And lunch on the way down wasn’t bad either – a Wedge Salad with Texas Toast. Make me think of Swanda and his passion for the Wedge…
Rented with Thrifty/Dollar this time ($83.20 + $12.25 in gas for the three days). After I said no red cars, they were going to give me Kia Soul (shown to the right), but then I spied this beauty (well, everything but the baby poop tan color) on the lot:
That would be the Fiat500L – complete with backup camera, Bluetooth that linked to my phone, and a killer sound system for the Classical Radio station I found, and soon I was on the road…
About halfway to Santa Fe I stopped at this monument that I’d passed for the last 30 years…
It is a monument to the Morman Battalion, which I had to look up. Thanks to WikiPedia for this summary:
The battalion’s march and service proved instrumental in helping the US secure much of the American Southwest, including new lands in several Western states, especially the Gadsden Purchase of 1853 of much of southern Arizona. The march also opened a southern wagon route to California. Veterans of the battalion played significant roles in America’s westward expansion in California, Utah, Arizona and other parts of the West.
I find it telling that the plaque on the stone tower has a word defaced out of the bronze – though not enough to obscure that the excised word was “savages”. It was a long quote about the march, and the Indians that they encountered.
Got to Mom’s about half an hour later, fixed myself (and her) a drink, and set about working through the “honey do” list. It makes me feel useful to be able to help.
Got a couple of things done before it was time to rustle up dinner. I usually end up going out and picking up food since it’s a chance for Mom to eat something different (and preferably deep-fried) other than what the dining room at the complex will deliver. Tonight it was the Santa Fe Bite (formerly the Bobcat Bite which was on the way to Eldorado).
Mom’s usual: bacon cheeseburger with house-made potato chips:
And my rather unusual patty melt. I say unusual since they didn’t try and reform the burger portion to match the really nice rye bread that it was served on. The tastes were good, presentation odd (and open-faced):
Wednesday was the big errand day – Albertsons (liquor), Walgreens (Ensure Plus), Home Depot (6-outlet wall-mounted surge protectors). But not before the most important errand of the day which is getting Mom to the Orthopedic consult.
And because it isn’t a blog post without some “selfies” – which the baby poop brown Fiat:
On the way back from the errands I had to stop and get photos of some of the motel signs from a different era along Cerrillos Road. Not as many as in downtown Reno, but still some nice ones:
Of course, the funniest sign I saw was this “sale” sign:
Tonight’s meal was from The Whole Hog – and I finally figured out the right portion size for the two of us. Half rack of ribs, side of baked beans (Mom) and cucumber salad (me). Sorry, it was devoured before I could get a picture. I didn’t realize they were a chain (but small).
More “honey do” work on my final full day, though this wasn’t on the list – a required another errand run.
I should have done the before/after shots – reupholstered the dining room chairs in something a little more cleanable than stained off-white cloth.
Next up was a consult with my lawyer (and sister-in-law) to go over my will now that my executor has died before me (Swanda) – and it was nice enough to do it outside!
That’s in the courtyard of the West Building of El Castillo – and picture of said courtyard:
And speaking of El Castillo (Mom’s Retirement Home), we went to look at the Assisted Living Units. NICE – when Mom saw the Whirlpool residents have access to she almost decided to move on the spot – here are a couple of shots of one of the new units staged:
It was good for her to get answers to some of her concerns so she knows what is coming down the pike as she ages…the one-bedroom units would be an “upcharge” from her currently monthly payments – they have studio units, but those look more like dorm rooms, I say, spend the money.
BUSY day today – my last full day in Santa Fe. Next up is my nieces International Baccalaureate Art Show (funny that next week I’m seeing my ex’s daughters show in Tokyo).
And the take-out feast from Whole Foods which included two dozen oysters on the half shell….
After the family left, it was back to the “honey do” list – to figure why the refrigerator occasionally leaks – seems there is A LOT of built up half-melted ice in the bottom which I managed to get out in one piece with the help of an icing knife:
Went to bed late as usual – luckily my flight isn’t until 3:35 in the afternoon, leaving me time to set up my office in the observation lounge at the Albuquerque Sunport:
Flight running on-time, not in my favorite seat, but close – at least with this seat I get to take pictures of clouds…
And yet get to enjoy another Wedge Salad along with a little TV…
And our final selfie of the day…in Seat 1F.
Home until Tuesday, then it’s off to Tokyo via Dubai.
The plan: two nights at the WorldMark Victoria in the handicap access Penthouse with its own hot tub and BBQ with DancingBear.
Revised plan: add a date for myself since its two bedrooms with queen-sized beds in both.
Outcome: FAIL.
I think that I set a new record in travelling with a “high-maintenance” guest. It is surprising that there wasn’t a death on this trip. Oh, let me recount the “I need it this way” ways:
No meat other than chicken (which has the highest rate of E.coli of any processed meats)
No seafood other than Salmon (and he’d probably be happy with Farmed Salmon filled with food coloring)
Two pairs of underwear PER DAY, the morning set and the evening set
Which requires AT LEAST showering twice a day
And when people pack THREE different things to wipe their bum with in between all those showers….
And then there is the constant “chatter”. God forbid there should be a moment of silence. My nickname for him is “SeaPrincess”, while DancingBear prefers “Magpie”, so he will be Christened Magpie SeaPrincess throughout the land.
Dear Load, the boy is HIGH-maintenance. My evidence:
That would be MY toiletry bag, next so some of his “wipes”.
That would be Magpie SeaPrincess’ toiletry bag, NOT including any of the wipes. And let’s not talk about all the towel exchanges through a two-night stay.
Before the trip when I inquired about luggage (I drive a Miata and so there is only so much space for luggage) his response was 14x18x22 which is carryon size…that was NOT what showed up at the dock.
Lemonade out of lemons? You do what you can do. I felt particularly bad for DancingBear who signed on for a relaxing holiday, and got less than that. He was amazingly helpful at offering tips to get the poor (and unemployed) boy’s life back on track. Way more patience than me, but luckily all the knives in the unit were dull as dirt.
But I digress, the trip:
Arrived in Victoria and got the shuttle to the rental car place, where Magpie when into overdrive flirting with everyone trying to get an upgrade. There was a possible plan for going to the West Coast of Vancouver Island on a day trip so a bigger car would have been nice.
I’m No, No, No, and the agent is coming Down, Down, Down in the price of an upgrade, whispering so the other clerk doesn’t hear (actually guessing that they didn’t have our car class), and when it was $10 CAD ($7.50USD) per day for twice the size I finally bit.
With the ferry arriving at 11:30, and a hold-up in immigration because DancingBear and some other Canadian fugitive have the same name, it’s noon-thirty when we get to the WorldMark Victoria. Not surprising that the room isn’t ready (though it was on the January trip which was a total shock). Off to Santiago’s we go for, as DancingBear would call it, an expensive lunch, even if the drinks were cheap by Canadian standards.
As we are putzing around afterward I check email – apparently calls weren’t coming through but email was – unit is ready!
Check in, get everybody keys, send the boy out to explore, DancingBear hanging in the apartment, me chopping for groceries….
Did I mention the muffins – poppy seed, like the ones from Costco. 15 freaking minutes in the store looking for Poppy Seed muffins (had to settle for Cranberry Orange, which, of course he didn’t eat – though I did and they were damn tasty).
The meal plan, grilled salmon the first night (wild caught, none of that farmed crap) and a roasted chicken the next night.
But, again, I digress from the good parts of the trip. Maybe some photos will help. The waterfront at sunrise:
Company for dinner tonight… though not Royce (who came to dinner my last visit), who I found at the grocery store working his shift:
It was just DancingBear, UncleMarkie, MagpieSeaPrincess and Elliott “The On-line Psychic”.
A good time was had by all, but I have no photographic evidence. Pupu Platter, slab of salmon on the grill, big salad, bread (except for Elliott who has issues with gluten). No pictures of the hot tub party (just as well). Elliott brought the wine, we supplied the hard liquor. It was a fun evening.
There was a concept of taking a drive up the West Coast of Vancouver Island. It soon became clear that DancingBear wasn’t going along on a 4+ hour “journey from hell” (his words), and I wasn’t up much for it as well, so we cast off the boy to make his own adventure, and DancingBear and I went out for lunch and shopping. I needed lunch, DancingBear needed shoes (and lunch).
This is the Finest At Sea food trailer in their parking lot – much easier than putting in a full kitchen, and if it doesn’t work out, you sell the rig. We both had the Halibut and Chips (one-piece for me, two-piece for DancingBear) which was stunningly good. I’d had their rockfish cakes in January and was impressed. Guess it’s time to dust off my TripAdvisor account.
Next stop, shoe shopping (for DB, not me). But before we found a cheap shoe store we found a Target that was going out of business. All the Target Stores in Canada basically filed for bankruptcy. They were even selling off the store fixtures:
DancingBear ended up buying an iPad for his husband at 10% off (when do you ever see Apple Products discounted!) before we found him some shoes at the other end of the mall at 50% off, plus the 20% off discount because the Canadian Dollar is in the toilet compared to the US Dollar.
UncleMarkie with shoe (and cocktail):
Another evening, another meal where I forgot to take pictures. Lemon stuffed roasted chicken, salad, bread… but it seems someone forgot that there was going to be dinner and gorged on Chicken McNuggets. Clueless youth. Home cooked food vs. industrial food.
In my defense, I offer the following photo:
Ah, youth. When your beauty fades, may you have an interesting life, as the fortune cookies says.
The boy was off in the morning – at least he’d learned that until I’ve had my coffee, best to not try and engage me in conversation. Having decided to turn in the rental car at exactly 48 hours rather than 53, we were in a rush to get out of the condo…but someone decided to do a load of laundry with everything he had to wear, because “those clothes are dirty, I can’t be seen in public in “dirty” clothes”. He’d already called the front desk and brow-beat them into a late checkout (for him), DancingBear and I were out at 11:30. God know when he actually got out of the condo, and I’m hoping my stellar reputation with the WorldMark Victoria hasn’t been damaged.
For our part, we loaded the car, I dropped DB at the ferry terminal to check out bags, I gassed up, dropped off the car (and saved $50 CAN by not needing the extra three hours) and had a lovely QUIET walk back to the ferry terminal. I could have had the shuttle drop me, but a quiet walk with no one yammering…was delightful – and it let me pick up the schedule for the IMAX at the Royal Museum since we don’t sail until 4.
The film was something about the Grand Canyon – which I spent 3-weeks rafting through many years ago. My assignment was to show up with 115 liters of wine – and it wasn’t enough. My blog posts HERE, but I’m guessing the picture links are dead.
On my Victoria post for January I have a picture of Seth and this bear (which is in the gift shop of the IMAX theatre):
That killed an hour and then I found a great way to kill more time – DRINK! Did I mention we had lunch and drinks before the movie?
Inside the Empress, there is a lovely lounge (and restaurant) called the Bengal Lounge – VERY East Indian in theme:
Complete with Curry Buffet (lunch and evening $30).
And my drink, a LOVELY Manhattan, complete with Luxardo cherry:
And my new favorite bartender, Len:
From the Empress we decamped to the ferry terminal – we had boarding number in the 100-150 range, so with luggage already checked, it was fine to be at the end of the line. I was shocked we got a table upstairs on the way home (a first for me).
In the end, MagpieSeaPrincess didn’t show up for the boat home, he’d “fallen in LOVE”. Instead we got 50-75 Junior High School Band Camp students, who strangely were quieter than the Magpie.
And in the end, we returned to this:
Customs was a breeze – they held off the (two) band camps until the rest of us had disembarked which is good because that many kids, passports, birth certificates, oy.
In all of this I realize that I haven’t given you any pictures of the view from our condo, which is one of the major reasons I go to Victoria, so I’ll close with these:
I’ve always loved the looks for the 60’s Ford F-750/800 Custom Cab trucks – they sort of look like a bulldog to me:
And here is what I would do with something like this – a party truck – seating for eight:
Bench seats facing out on both ends. In the middle, club seating for four with a table in between, which I guess should make them be able to turn them into beds.
The side glass would actually be the back windows from both of the cabs.
Now, where to the put the fridge.
Stilly dreams without the skill set to pull it off.
A couple of years ago I did the Star MegaDo 5 (you REALLY should click on that link) –the penultimate aviation geekdom event. Even more than AvGeek (http://www.airlinereporter.com/2015/01/aviation-geek-fest-2015/) here in Seattle that sold out in 90 seconds for hundreds of places. Fico and I were there in I think 2010. Wish I could find the photo of Fico and I in front of a 777 engine.
Soooooo, there was another Star MegaDo announced on Monday. Initial email: 647am PST with a “Tickets On Sale” time of noon CST. Less than four hours, and I sleep late.
The itinerary? ARN > TLS > LGW > LHR
Stockholm > Toulouse > London Gatwick > London Heathrow
So, there is a group flight (not mandatory) from ORD to ARN, hopefully with a group rate. And then there is the schedule:
5/09 Saturday
12:00 PM
ORD
Optional: US send-off event
For participants joining us from the US: we are planning a brief send-off event at Chicago O’Hare. Details will be communicated soon.
05:00 PM
ORD/ARN
Optional: Transatlantic flight
Participants who fly from the US depart Chicago O’Hare on the Star Alliance MegaDO party flight. The exact schedule and details on the group rate will be communicated shortly. You are not required to fly on the official transatlantic flight and/or use the group fare in order to join the MegaDO. Feel free to book your own flights at your convenience. See the FAQ for more information.
5/10 Sunday
10:00 AM
ARN
Arrival in Stockholm
Participants who fly from the US arrive in Stockholm Arlanda. (Exact schedule TBD)
07:00 PM
Kitchen & Table, ARN
Optional: Welcome dinner
Optional welcome dinner at Kitchen & Table at Arlanda Airport, Clarion hotel – an awesome restaurant with spectacular views. (45 attendees max – we will provide a separate booking link for those who are interested.) Â
5/11 Monday
08:00 AM
Radisson Blu SkyCity Arlanda
Breakfast and registration
Welcome breakfast and event registration.
10:00 AM
SAS HQ
A day with SAS
The SMD6 official program starts with a full day with SAS Scandinavian Airlines. Buses will depart the Radisson Blu SkyCity Arlanda at 10am.
07:00 PM
Radisson Blu SkyCity Arlanda
Welcome reception
Evening reception and charter flight check-in for passengers with carry-ons only.
5/12 Tuesday
04:30 AM
Radisson Blu SkyCity Arlanda
Breakfast
Good morning! Breakfast is served from 4:30am.
09:00 AM
ARN
Official SMD6 charter
The official SMD charter flight, operated by a SAS 737-800 with 183 seats, departs Stockholm Arlanda! (Check-in closes at 8:15am for passengers with baggage.) Â
12:00 PM
TLS
Arrival in Toulouse
The official SMD6 charter flight arrives in Toulouse, France (TLS).
02:00 PM
Airbus
A350 assembly line tour
Witness the future of aviation! An exclusive insiders’ tour of the A350 Final Assembly Line. (Transportation by bus from/to the airport.)
05:00 PM
TLS
Charter departs from Toulouse
The SMD6 charter flight departs from Toulouse. On to London!
06:00 PM
LGW
Arrival in London
The SMD6 charter flight arrives at London Gatwick Airport (LGW). Transportation to London by Gatwick Express (pre-paid tickets will be arranged.)
08:00 PM
The May Fair
An evening with Club Carlson
AÂ very exclusive reception at the Club Carlson flagship property, the luxurious The May Fair in London.
5/13 Wednesday
06:30 AM
The May Fair
Breakfast
10:00 AM
LHR
A day with Star Alliance at LHR T2
A day with Star Alliance at the brand new London Heathrow Terminal 2, The Queen’s Terminal – the alliance’s biggest investment in a long time. Enjoy behind the scenes tours and meet Mark Schwab, President and CEO of Star Alliance. The event starts at 10am. Transportation to LHR is not included in the charter price – see the FAQ for details.
03:00 PM
LHR
Program concludes
The official SMD program concludes, but for many, the party continues! We have not scheduled official flights to the US. Feel free to book the flight of your choice on your own or using the group rate. Details on the group rate will be announced soon. See the FAQ for details.
Â
As much as I loved the last MegaDo, my Million Mile Status on one airplane puts me at the bottom of the people there, though I did get an interesting business contact with RocketMiles which I’ve bid some direct mail jobs with.
And then there is the price:
Economy $999.00 Business Class $1799.00 (blocked middle seat – the European carriers, SAS in this case, often have odd Intra-Europe seating configuarations) Exit row $1,499.00 (blocked middle seat)
A little rich for my blood considering I was in Stockholm last year and stayed in a converted 747 turned into a hostel (https://blog.unclemarkie.com/2014/08/03/trip-report-the-long-road-home/) and I’ve been to the Airbus Plant in Toulouse (thanks Jill for putting up with my obsession). I haven’t seen the new T2 at Heathrow, but trust me, it’s a hub, and I’ll be through there.
And it’s a weekend. I can negotiate maybe 3-4 a year with my business partner.
And I’d have to get to either Chicago or Stockholm, and home from London.
I blew all my banked miles (75,000 on Alaska and 75,000 on United for my all Business Class round the world flight in March when I visit my ex and my nephew in JapanLand. 777-300ER, Seattle to Dubai; after an overnight, a 777-200ER Dubai to Haneda (the close in Tokyo airport [with car service on both ends, so they say]). 8 days in Japan between two cities, then back on an ANA flight from Nagoya to Narita, then a 787-8 Business Class flight from Narita to Seattle.
Sounded like fun. Drunken fun – the flights are triple catered with free booze. And then there is the food, and the party atmosphere. I’m I’m sure I’d see people from the last one.
As usual, I’m a week behind in posting. Last week was a couple of nights in the Bay Area. I say Bay Area as I flew into Oakland, but stayed in the city.
Started the trip as usual…though a little cranky over the passing of my buddy Swanda. I think it shows in my Board Room selfie:
At least I was upgraded, and to my favorite seat:
And there were cute fly-boys, Stone and Jesse – too bad they were servicing the back for the flight.
One of the treats of the trip was the new BART Connector running from Oakland International Airport. No more snarky shuttle bus drivers! And it still had the new car smell (which is actually toxic outgassing)…
The rooms are smaller than most of the other WorldMark properties, but well maintained – and this isn’t even one of the refurbished units:
Tonight’s planned excitement is a late dinner with my niece and her boyfriend. I missed meeting him at Christmas by about two days.
The first restaurant we were too late to be seated as it was a little before nine, so we walked down the street to another French Restaurant – who knew that the French Quarter of San Francisco is right out the gates to Chinatown.
It’s always nice to start with oysters on the half shell, then it was time for the mains.
Niece had steak tartar….
I had the scallops…
Boyfriend (hers, not mine), got the chicken and frites. Never sure why people go to a restaurant and order something they could make at home (though maybe not the fries).
I sent them on their way and headed back to the condo to sit a little Shiva for my departed friend. Too bad I didn’t have a Minyan to join me. And it should have been vodka…
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On to tomorrow – I don’t know why it didn’t let me post this in one post.
Slept late, then went for the Owner Update in the Shark Tank — $75, a big glossy hardback book of all the resorts in the system, and a fairly lame lunch. And thirty minutes longer than advertised Man did I need a drink after that!
Behind the bar is a huge Maxfield Parish mural of the Pied Piper leading all the children out of town:
Here is a great 2 minute (or so) video that is on the Palace website about the painting:
Many Manhattans with our appetizers of oysters (stunningly good with a little apple slaw and fish roe), cheese and fruit plate (how healthy!) and the calamari (very good, but not very healthy, but it did come with a squid ink dipping sauce.
And a photo of the boys, though not the best:
But it does give you an idea of the lobby.
Up the hill we went – back to the condo to order take-out for the real meal. That was my tab since Lunetta picked up the cocktails. Did I get a picture of the food – no. But I did manage to get one of the bar. The boys showed up with a couple of bottles of wine for dinner, and some bourbon for me to take back to Seattle:
Dinner was from Million Dollar Thai, which several days later I got a notice that I got miles for dining there – they are part of the Dining For Miles program. I picked them because they were in the resort handbook and they offered free delivery for orders over $25, which certainly wasn’t a problem with the four of us.
Another late night, but at least I have a late afternoon flight. Hung out in the condo until the noon checkout and then it was back on BART to the airport. And the final tourist shot – the entrance to Chinatown, just a block or so from the condo:
A light lunch at Chili’s Too (enchilada soup – perfect amount of food) and then it was back to my bulkhead seat in First Class. Even I’m amazed at my luck some time. $96.20 round-trip, and upgraded to first in both directions. The joys of travelling mid-week in the winter.
Well, it really isn’t about San Antonio, more East and North – think New Braunfels.
We Alaska Airlines moves into a city, it’s usually with a nice mid-day flight. Often the planes start in Anchorage with a red-eye, then move east with the same plane coming back from whence it landed.
No exception today with an 11AM flight to San Antonio, with the plane returning to Seattle the same day, though I won’t be on that flight until Thursday.
Board Room for food and drink — they really lose out with me as a member with how often I visit – one year I should record how much food and booze I go through just for shits and giggles.
Got bumped to First which is always nice because it comes with food, drinks, and a Digi-Player.
That would be the warm Turkey and Provolone Sandwich with slaw that I then add to the sandwich. Tasty.
Grabbed my bag (contained a bottle of wine for dinners) and then it was off to pick up the rental car, which to my surprise was a VW Beetle:
Always nice to get to drive a car you haven’t.
It was dark by the time I got to the WorldMark New Bruenfels which is actually closer to Gruene which is listed on the Historical Register. The stops I made along the way were for whiskey (cheaper than in Seattle) and groceries for my two-night stay. I was a little concerned when I saw the receipt – Polloks Wed(ding) Garl(i)c Saus(age) Ri(ng) – kinda racist even for Texas. Turns out Polloks is the name of the company that makes the sausage:
The WorldMark is a nice place – maybe not my style, and at 2-bedrooms, 2½-baths, WAY too much room for me (sleeps 6). But it was the smallest unit they have and at $60 a night, who’s complaining.
I put the pork spare ribs on the grill (unfortunately by the pool rather than the unit):
Made a little salad, opened the wine….
Off to bed late, and slept in… making it leftover pork and eggs or breakfast.
Today’s mostly about wondering around the area including historic Gruene which is on the banks of the Guadalupe River which is famous for river rafting in warmer wedding. I did get one shot of Gruene mostly for my friend DancingBear:
But since the weather is warm, I couldn’t help myself with a little “me” time poolside:
Life is HARD!
Thursday found me in the unit until the noon check-out time before heading to the Natural Bridge Caverns for a little “cave time”.
I’m sort of amazed at the pictures considering my new phone (Nokia 635) doesn’t have a flash (or a forward facing camera).
A nice little stop on the way to the airport. Privately-owned so it wasn’t cheap at $20 for the standard tour. I think the Colonels would have liked the caverns, but not all the walking and steps.
To the airport way too early, which when your airline only has one flight a day, forget checking in more than two hours early… and forget that upgrade – I was number ten on the list. Wonder why? Here is a list of all the MVP Golds and 75K fliers on my flight. WOW!
And there are only 12 First Class seats on the 737-700 that they use on this route. And so much or the empty seat next to me…I found it (and the window seat) filled with what Wonderful called PPPs. Pasty, Pudgy, PlainsPeople.
Oh well, it’s only a 3½ hour flight, and I brought extra mini’s to add to the free one they provide for MVP Gold flier.
In those 3½ hour flight I learned more than I wanted to know (after hours of research on the ground) about this couple married almost 38 years….
Here is a report that I sent to several friends after soliciting their opinions:
So, I’m sitting next to this couple – a little annoyed because as of yesterday the seat was vacant, and now it’s filled with a PPP as Wonderful would say… a Pasty, Pudgy, PlainsPeople in a Seahawks shirt sitting in the middle seat with his wife of almost 38 years next to him. Both sort of frumpy, definitely not flashy – but you could also tell that they were still in love with each other from the way they were kidding around.
I didn’t get the impression that either of them was too bright, let alone charismatic.
So, I’m watching what’s coming up on his laptop — things like the Drudge Report, making advertisements and PowerPoint presentations with the Blood Moons book in it (see below)…
And we are occasionally chatting – wife likes wine so who knows, they might become customers, which would be weird. That came up after he said he was in the ministry which I followed up that I was in the “Blood of Christ” business, which he chuckled at.
So we are chatting about travel – he (and the wife) are hosting a bible cruise through the Mediterranean, a trip to South Africa, and he’s asking about visa and stuff which brought us to vaccinations, of which I inquired about his thoughts on the measles outbreak — he supports the right not to, but on the questions of the yellow fever/malaria vaccinations for South Africa (which usually includes a booster for MMRV [measles-mumps-rubella-varicella]) he said, of course they are going to get them.
He wasn’t trying to see me his vision or anything which was nice – but it did make me curious about him, hence the email. He mentioned a board of directors, and that they pay for all his travels for him to preach – his main congregation is in Tacoma where he does a Shabbat Service Saturday mornings (10-12:30) using the Church of All Nations semi-mega church. I noted he isn’t on their calendar so they are probably just renting space.
Weird thing is that there seem to be LOTS of El Shaddai (God Almighty) foundations out there supporting churches in Haiti, children’s cancer – most based out of Florida and looking a little shady from some of the Board of Directors pictures I’ve seen…
So, the infrastructure geek in me signs up for these “public outreach” tours that both the Ports of Seattle and Tacoma periodically put on. I did a post on it back in 2008 when I did a Third Runway tour at Sea-Tac just before they opened it to air traffic. Here is the post: https://blog.unclemarkie.com/2008/09/10/runway-16r/, and below is a picture of me on the Third Runway:
But the tour that I’m on today with Mags is of the Port of Tacoma. They offer a bunch of tours during the year (http://portoftacoma.com/community/tours) and I’ve also booked us for the Earth Day tour which is a more “boots on the ground” kinda tour since it’s highlighting all the public access points along with restoration work they are doing.
But today’s tour was all on the bus – luckily not half full of retirement home residents like the last one I was on.
A light load today.
Out on the docks dodging containers.
Lots full of Korean cars for the US market.
And the saddest of all shots, of the Kalakala being dismantled:
Sorry it isn’t a better shot – here’s one that I grabbed from the web and the story behind the ferry:
Looks like a fabulous trip. It was nice to spend time with you while at Surfside. I loved visiting. Thank you.